Winter Wonderland by Susan L.

  Those postcard picture perfect mornings where the world is wrapped in freshly fallen snow make my heart skip with joy even if it means the driveway may need shovelling. Not a foot print mars the yard. The air is still. The sky a soft gray. Shadows are diffused and soft as well. Humps and bumps become works of art. Fluffy mushroom caps make the mundane into characters who, with a fanciful flight of imagination, could talk.
  The birds visiting my neighbour's feeder land in the branches with a puff. There's a Nuthatch who has found a branch in the lilac tree perfect for wedging seeds. She jams them in then patiently pecks away until the treat inside is made available. I see her there all the time in the same spot so it must be a good one!
  These sights are even more precious because they won't last. Before long, the wind will rise, the trees will shake off their blanket so they can doh-si-doh-bow-to-your-partner boogie. The squirrels who raid the bird feeders will bounce across the lawn. There's a rabbit somewhere who uses my shovelled driveway as a highway leaving bunny prints as the only evidence of his existence.
  The snow plow just went past dumping rumply-bumpy chunks of snow along the ditch and the end of the driveway. So much for pristine.
  It will be a beautiful drive to my Mom's today. We are celebrating my family Christmas. It will seem strange without my daughter there but she said she would try and call while we are all together. I am looking forward to seeing everyone.
  All of us are excitedly looking forward to Bump's entry into the world. It could be any day now even if the baby's due date is January 6. I know mom is ready. Those last few weeks of pregnancy seem terribly long!
  Gratitude and hope: the lifeblood of life. Lord, give me eyes to see and the ears to hear the joy You have for all Your creations. In Jesus' name I pray.
  "So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified." Acts 20:32